Tirfor winch - bits and maintenance

SLOW-hoarders,

Hello again from Brisbane.

I recognise this is more suited to "Recovery", but for now was happy to seek advice from within the SLOW circle.

I was kindly given a Tirfor T13 hand winch by an AULRO member (Blitz) which I picked up from Mackay on my way through to Townsville last week. Must admit that Qantas were very forgiving of the weight of my bag - so much so that I was happily whistling "I got pig iron, I got pig iron............" as the undercarriage was retracting. I suspect my faithful old Samsonite was probably less than happy being dragged into yet another Land Rover parts smuggling venture.

Anyway, back to topic.

It has a couple of bits missing through theft - handle and cable - but from a phone conversation with the donor was apparently never used much in the 25 or so years that he had it. Stolen handle and cable early on having a lot to do with that.

Storage over the years hasn't been all that kind to the finish which has some surface rust on the galvanised or zinc plated sides, levers and and some of the fixing bolts. I understand that this is likely to be more cosmetic than structural, but intend to clean it up at some stage in the future.

The immediate challenge is to find a replacement handle and wire rope for the T13.

I contacted Tractel (the makers) in France to see if the handles are still available as a spare part (ditto the shear pins), but got a suitably Gallic response - "Jeez Monsieur Cobber S3ute, vee hev not made zose theengs for near on 30 long annees. Malhereusement, zee important replacement items such as zee handle in question are no longeur made. Bon chance and piece off!".... or a string of Franglais words to that effect.

Local attempts to find an Australian agent for Tractel (Nobles?) were not much more productive.

So, for now I am looking for someone who has a busted T13 that still has its handle who might part with it either as an act of kindness or for cash. The alternative is to make one - over in the real Recovery thread it has been suggested that high tensile steel tube or thicker walled boiler pipe would likely do the job - question is where in Brisbane would you look for that stuff?

The other query relates to pulling a Tirfor apart for a clean up and lubrication, and especially the T13. I don't have a manual or parts diagram (yet) but do have a bit of an idea of what lies inside a similar model of winch from a couple of helpful US Youtube postings. My question there is whether there is likely to be any nasty surprises (e.g. highly compressed springs) waiting for the last bolt to come apart?

I have 2 tirfors, one big one and one small one (unsure of the models), they didn't come with handles either. We just used a bit of pipe which we tapped onto the handle to get the oval shape. The smaller once has a broken shear pin and we too are looking for shear pins.

Neil, I have a manual for the Tirfor at home. For the handle, a bit of 3/4" water pipe would be ideal, alternatively a piece of 25mm SHS would work well. The ID of the tube needs to be around 21mm. You should be able to source cable from one of the rigging suppliers, eg. Nobles or Bullivants. Cable looks like it is 8mm 6 x 19 construction. Tirfor rope is shown at Table 8 in the Bullivants catalogue that I have, (1992 edition). I just had a look in my Blackwoods catalogue, they sell Tirfor Winches as well as replacement ropes, their price for a new rope to me is $175.27 + GST. I can lend you a sample if you want to get one made.

Parts

Originally Posted by Seriestwo

we too are looking for shear pins.

Hello again.

I am heading to Tasmania for a week tomorrow and while there may be picking up some shear pins for the T13. Taslifting Sales & Service (Hobart/Launceston/Burnie) don't sell Tirfors any more, but apparently can get the pins in from somewhere.

No doubt there is a local supplier in SEQ, but if I can get them while I am there I may as well.

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